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Nov 13, 2014 · Wellington’s criticism of the cavalry is well known. But when I looked into it. The Duke of Wellington commanded one of Britain’s finest expeditionary forces between 1808 -1814 and defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. I found there was more to the story.
- Younger Son
- A Politician as Well as A Soldier
- A Career Crafted in India
- Short on Sleep
- Giving Up His Bed
- A Front-Line Commander
- A Grey View of His Troops
- Visiting St Helena
- A Believer in Flogging
- Dreaming of Reformed Officers
Wellington was a younger son of Anglo-Irish nobility. He was born on May 1, 1769, in Dublin. His older brother Richard helped his early career. Richard was a gifted politician who supported Arthur in his rise through the military ranks. As Governor-General of Bengal, Richard acted as patron while they were both serving in India.
Although best remembered as a general, Wellington was also a politician. He sat in the Irish parliament in the 1790s and later became British Prime Minister, twice.
Wellington first came to prominence as a commander while serving in India in the late 1790s and early 1800s. He defeated a series of local leaders in battle, consolidating and expanding British territory in the subcontinent. He played an important role for Britain obtaining control of the whole region.
When necessary, Wellington could keep going for a long time on very little sleep. In the four days in the lead-up to the Battle of Waterloo and the battle itself, he had only nine hours sleep. He often stayed up until three in the morning organizing his army.
At Waterloo, one of his staff officers was severely injured. Having had his leg amputated, there was no certainty he would survive. Wellington gave him his bed and slept on a couch instead. He was woken during the night with the sad news that his colleague had died.
Like many commanders of the era, Wellington led from the front. He frequently came close to death due to artillery or small arms fire. He had several horses shot out from under him and bullets regularly left holes in his clothes and equipment. At Waterloo, a cannonball narrowly missed both Wellington and his horse and instead hit the unfortunate ma...
Wellington expressed views on his soldiers that appear confusing. On the one hand, he repeatedly referred to British infantry as scum. On the other, he talked in admiring terms of their achievements and emphasized they were the tools he needed to win battles. Those apparently contradictory views show a sophisticated understanding of his soldiers. H...
The victory at Waterloo led to Napoleon’s banishment to the Island of St Helena. Wellington understood well what life on the Island was like. On his journey home from India in 1805, he had stopped off at the isolated Atlantic island and stayed in the same building to which Napoleon was later exiled.
The love many of Wellington’s men showed him was not inspired by kindness. Wellington was a harsh disciplinarian who believed that strict punishments were needed to keep soldiers in line. He did not think imprisonment in barracks deterred men from serious failures of discipline. Instead, he advocated the regular use of flogging; the infamous cat o’...
Although a member of Britain’s traditional aristocratic officer class, Wellington saw deep flaws in the arrangement. Having obtained their commissions through wealth and family connections, many of the officers were as undisciplined and neglectful of their duties as their soldiers. It caused problems for the general, who wrote several times about t...
- It is very true that I have said that I considered Napoleon's presence in the field equal to forty thousand men in the balance. This is a very loose way of talking; but the idea is a very different one from that of his presence at a battle being equal to a reinforcement of forty thousand men.
- I never saw so many shocking bad hats in my life. - Of the British Parliament.
- My rule always was to do the business of the day in the day.
- The only thing I am afraid of is fear.
British officers ape Wellington’s nonchalance which annoys the French: According to Walter Scott, who was in Paris at the time, As for our people they live in a most orderly and regular manner. All the young men pique themselves on imitating the Duke of Wellington in nonchalance and coolness of manner.
Europe’s rulers called on Wellington again. Sitting down to eat at the Duchess of Richmond's ball, Wellington learnt that Napoleon had advanced within 20 miles of the Belgian capital. "Napoleon...
And in 1852 Wellington replied to a letter from Croker, ‘What I must have said and possibly did say was, Stand up, Guards! and then gave the commanding officers the order to attack.’ (Wellington to Croker n.d. [but replying to Croker’s letter of 14 March 1852] Croker Papers vol 3 p 282-3).
People also ask
Did Duke of Wellington really defeat Napoleon at Waterloo?
Did Wellington say 'I do not see much of the enemy before you'?
Did Wellington know what he was talking about?
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Did Zieten send a warning to Wellington?
However the evidence supporting the claim is thin and implausible: no copy of the message existed even in 1819; Zieten claimed to have sent it at 4.45am, when the French attacks had only just begun; and, most strangely, Müffling, the Prussian liaison officer at Wellington’s headquarters knew nothing about it, even though the courier would ...
